CN109314930B

CN109314930B - Sensor data acquisition in user equipment

Info

Publication number: CN109314930B
Application number: CN201780038828.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: M·克斯金; R·吉尔摩; M·塞赞
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2016-06-24
Filing date: 2017-05-24
Publication date: 2021-05-14
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-24
Also published as: CN109314930A; WO2017222737A1; TW201801497A; US20170373956A1; US10021002B2

Abstract

The present application relates to collecting sensor data at a User Equipment (UE). The described aspects include receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors. The described aspects also include activating, by a controller at the UE, the one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input. Further, the described aspects also include receiving sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors. The described aspects include determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied. Additionally, the described aspects further include adjusting acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors based on determining that a sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied.

Description

Sensor data acquisition in user equipment

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims priority from U.S. patent application No.15/192777 entitled "SENSOR DATA ACQUISITION IN a USER equipment" filed 24/6/2016, the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly to collecting sensor data at a User Equipment (UE).

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. The use of communication devices in such systems has increased substantially. Communication devices often provide access to a network, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or the internet. Other communication devices (e.g., access terminals, laptops, smart phones, media players, gaming devices, etc.) may communicate wirelessly with communication devices that provide network access. Some communication devices conform to certain industry standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 (e.g., wireless fidelity or "Wi-Fi") standards. For example, communication device users often use such communication devices to connect to wireless communication networks.

As the use of communication devices increases, advances in the capacity, reliability and efficiency of communication devices are being sought. In particular, communication devices typically include a plurality of on-board sensors configured to capture a wide range of information. However, during certain situations, the use or activation of these sensors may be limited, otherwise these situations may benefit from sensor data capture. Thus, in such a case, the use or activation of such a sensor may be beneficial. Accordingly, systems and methods that improve the availability and/or efficiency of communication devices may be beneficial.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

According to one aspect, a method involves collecting sensor data at a User Equipment (UE). The described aspects include receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors. The described aspects also include activating, by a controller at the UE, the one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input. The described aspects further include receiving sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors. The described aspects further include determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied. The described aspects further include adjusting acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors based on determining that a sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied.

According to one aspect, an apparatus relates to collecting sensor data. The described aspects include means for receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors. The described aspects also include means for activating, by a controller at a User Equipment (UE), the one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input. The described aspects also include means for receiving sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors. The described aspects also include means for determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met. The described aspects also include means for adjusting acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors based on determining that a sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied.

According to one aspect, a computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code relates to sensor data acquisition. The described aspects include code for receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors. The described aspects also include code for activating, by a controller at a User Equipment (UE), the one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input. The described aspects also include code for receiving sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors. The described aspects also include code for determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met. The described aspects also include means for adjusting acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors based on determining that a sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied.

According to one aspect, an apparatus comprising a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory involves sensor data acquisition. The at least one processor is configured to receive a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors. The at least one processor is further configured to activate, by a controller at a User Equipment (UE), the one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input. The at least one processor is further configured to receive sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors. The at least one processor is further configured to determine whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met. The at least one processor is further configured to adjust acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors based on determining that a sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed and the description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

Drawings

The features, nature, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein the dashed lines may indicate optional components or operations, and wherein:

fig. 1 is an exemplary UE that may be used in an operating environment in which sensor data may be collected and/or communicated in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a sensor controller according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3-5 are flow diagrams illustrating exemplary methods of collecting sensor data according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of an apparatus employing a processing system including a sensor controller in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, various structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts.

Several aspects of a communication system will now be presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by means of various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

As an example, an element or any portion of an element or any combination of elements may be implemented as a "processing system" that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), Central Processing Units (CPUs), application processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processors, systems on chip (socs), baseband processors, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software should be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software components, applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

Accordingly, in one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer readable media includes computer storage media. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (eeprom), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of the above types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

A client device, referred to herein as User Equipment (UE), may be mobile or stationary and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "wireless device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," "smartphone," "tablet," and variations thereof.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Continued development of UEs has provided increased features and functionality in such devices. In particular, the UE may include various sensors for acquiring, detecting, and/or tracking various aspects of the UE (e.g., mobile device) or a user of the UE. For example, the UE may include an accelerometer to measure the acceleration of the UE (and thus the user). Further, the UE may include a Global Positioning System (GPS) component for acquiring and/or tracking the location of the UE. While many sensors within a UE may be used by, or in some cases primarily intended for, one or more applications, sensors may be used in other cases or during (whether or not an application is started). In particular, it may be desirable to utilize some or all of the sensors during the course of various events (such as, but not limited to, emergency events). Furthermore, in some cases it may be desirable to be able to easily enable the device to function as a black box recorder.

The present aspects relate generally to enhanced data acquisition and communication in a UE. As described above, a UE may include a number of sensors that acquire, detect, and/or measure one or more physical characteristics. For example, a single sensor of the UE or a subset of the set of all sensors may be activated at different points in time based on the respective activation of the application. However, in some cases, a user of the UE may wish to quickly utilize or activate one or more of the on-board UE sensors. In some aspects, the UE may also utilize one or more wearable sensors, automotive sensors, and/or home sensors in proximity to the UE. For example, a user of a UE may experience or encounter a situation in which utilization or activation of one or more sensors onboard or within the UE would be beneficial. In some aspects, the situation may be an emergency situation during which capture and/or recording of sensor data from one or more sensors proximate to the UE may be beneficial. Further, for example, the UE may be configured to activate certain wearable sensors in a medical emergency or certain automotive sensors (in addition to on-board UE sensors) in a traffic emergency. Thus, the activation and/or utilization of one or more sensors may enable the UE to capture and/or record information about the UE's (and user's) surroundings. Accordingly, the UE may operate as a "black box" that captures and/or records data simultaneously received from the activated sensors.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating various components of a UE 100. For simplicity, the various features and functions shown in the diagram of fig. 1 are connected together using a common bus, which is intended to mean that these various features and functions are operably coupled together. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other connections, mechanisms, features, functions, etc. may be provided and adjusted as necessary to operably couple and configure an actual portable wireless device. Further, it should also be appreciated that one or more of the features or functions illustrated in the example of fig. 1 may be further subdivided or two or more of the features or functions illustrated in fig. 1 may be combined.

The UE 100 may include a WWAN component 104 that may be coupled to one or more antennas 102. WWAN component 104 can include suitable devices, hardware, and/or software for communicating with a network entity, such as an access point and/or base station, and/or detecting signals to/from the network entity, and/or communicating directly with other wireless devices (e.g., other UEs) within a communication network. In one aspect, the WWAN component 104 can include a CDMA communication system adapted to communicate with a CDMA network of wireless base stations; in other aspects, however, the wireless communication system may include another type of cellular telephone network, such as TDMA or GSM. Moreover, any other type of wide area wireless networking technology may be used, such as WiMAX (802.16), TDNM, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, S02.xx, UWB and/or LTE.

The UE 100 may also include a WLAN component 110 that may be connected to one or more antennas 102. WLAN component 110 may include suitable devices, hardware, and/or software for communicating with a network entity, such as an access point, and/or detecting signals to/from a network entity, and/or communicating directly with other wireless devices (e.g., UEs) within a communication network. In one aspect, WLAN component 110 may include a Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE802.11a/ac/b/g/h/n, IEEE 802.16, and/or IEEE 802.20) communication system adapted to communicate with one or more wireless access points; however, in other aspects, the WLAN component 110 can include another type of local area network, such as a personal area network.

In some aspects, the UE 100 may include a GPS component 108 that may be connected to one or more antennas 102. GPS component 108 may include suitable devices, hardware, and/or software for receiving and processing satellite signals. Further, the UE 100 may include a bluetooth component 106 that may be connected to one or more antennas 102 for receiving/transmitting signals in accordance with IEEE 802.15. The bluetooth component 106 may include suitable devices, hardware, and/or software for receiving and processing bluetooth signals. Furthermore, any other type of wireless networking technology may be used, such as ZigBee.

Further, in some aspects, the UE 100 may include one or more sensors configured to detect, determine, or otherwise acquire information related to one or more physical characteristics. For example, the UE 100 may include a light sensor 140 that may be connected to one or more components of the UE 100, such as, but not limited to, the processor 112 and/or the memory 114. Additionally, the UE 100 may include a proximity sensor 142, which may be connected to one or more components of the UE 100, such as, but not limited to, the processor 112 and/or the memory 114. Additionally, the UE 100 may include one or more cameras 144, which may be connected to one or more components of the UE 100, such as, but not limited to, the processor 112 and/or the memory 114. Further, the UE 100 may include an accelerometer 146, which may be connected to one or more components of the UE 100, such as, but not limited to, the processor 112 and/or the memory 114. Further, UE 100 may include a gyroscope 148, which may be connected to one or more components of UE 100, such as, but not limited to, processor 112 and/or memory 114. In some aspects, although not shown, the UE 100 may also include a magnetometer, a pressure sensor (e.g., a barometer), a temperature sensor (e.g., a digital thermometer), and/or a humidity sensor. Further, the microphone/speaker 132 may be or otherwise function as a voice sensor. In some aspects, the one or more sensors may be or otherwise include one or more wearable sensors, such as, but not limited to, a heart rate sensor, a blood pressure sensor, a wearable camera. Further, in some aspects, the one or more sensors may be or otherwise include one or more automotive sensors, such as impact sensors.

The UE 100 may also include a processor 112. The processor 112 may be connected to the WWAN component 104, bluetooth component 106, GPS component 108, and WLAN component 110. Processor 112 may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, and/or digital signal processors that provide processing functions as well as other computing and control functions. The processor 112 may communicate, or in some non-limiting aspects, include a memory 114 for storing data and software instructions for performing functions programmed within the UE 100. In some aspects, the memory 114 may be on the processor 112 (e.g., within the same IC package) and/or the memory 114 may be an external memory that is functionally coupled to the processor 112 through a data bus.

In some aspects, memory 114 may include any type of computer-readable medium usable by computer or processor 112, such as Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In one aspect, for example, the memory 114 may be a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory medium) that stores computer-executable code. The computer executable code may define one or more operations or functions of, and/or data associated with, the sensor controller 120 and/or one or more subcomponents. Further, each of the WWAN component 104, the bluetooth component 106, the GPS component 108, the WLAN component 110, the light sensor 140, the proximity sensor, the one or more cameras 144, the accelerometer 146, and/or the gyroscope 148 can include hardware, firmware, and/or software and can be configured to execute code or execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., a computer-readable storage medium).

A number of software modules and/or applications may reside in the memory 114 and be utilized by the processor 112 and/or other components of the UE 100 to manage communications and/or services. Although not shown, memory 114 may include a number of applications. The organization of the memory contents shown in fig. 1 is for purposes of illustration and not limitation, and thus the functionality of the modules and/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or configured in different manners depending on the implementation of the UE 100.

Further, processor 112 may include any form of logic adapted to perform at least the techniques provided herein. For example, the processor 112 may be operatively configured, based on instructions in the memory 114, to selectively launch one or more routines and/or applications.

The UE 100 may include a user interface 130, which may be configured to provide any suitable interface system, such as a microphone/speaker 132, buttons/keys 134, a display 136, and/or a fingerprint sensor 138, which allow user interaction with the UE 100. The microphone/speaker 132 may be configured to provide voice communication services using one or more of the WWAN component 104, bluetooth component 106, and/or WLAN component 110. Buttons/keys 134 may include any suitable buttons for user input, which may also include other external hardware inputs of UE 100. In some aspects, the buttons/keys may be in the form of a keypad. Display 136 may include any suitable display, such as a backlit LCD display, and may also include a touch screen display for additional user input modes. Additionally, the fingerprint sensor 138 may include any suitable fingerprint sensor, such as a capacitive fingerprint reader.

The UE 100 may also include a sensor controller 120, which may be configured to manage and/or control acquisition of sensor information from one or more sensors based on input received from the user interface 130. In particular, in some aspects, a user of the UE 100 may wish to easily and quickly acquire information from or using one or more sensors in various circumstances. For example, in an emergency situation, the user of the UE 100 may not be able or have insufficient time to manually or individually initiate each of the one or more sensors desired to acquire the surrounding information. Accordingly, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to simultaneously activate one or more sensors based on input received from the user interface 130.

In some aspects, the one or more sensors may include a light sensor 140, a proximity sensor 142, one or more cameras 144, an accelerometer 146, a gyroscope 148, the WWAN component 104, the bluetooth component 106, the GPS component 108, the WLAN component 110, and (although not shown) a magnetometer, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and/or a humidity sensor.

In some aspects, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to associate a defined number or particular types of sensors with an input type. That is, the sensor controller 120 may be configured (e.g., by a user using the user interface 130) to assign or associate a set or subset of sensors with an input type. Upon receiving an indication of the input type, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to subsequently determine the input type and activate at least one sensor associated with the input type accordingly. In some aspects, input types may include, but are not limited to, any combination of hardware buttons/keys 134, touch patterns detected on display 136, voice detection of microphone/speaker 132 (e.g., recognition of certain phrases or words spoken by a user), and/or fingerprints detected by fingerprint sensor 138.

In this way, each input type may trigger activation of one or more sensors associated with the input type upon detection of the input type. In some aspects, voice activation may include triggering the recording of audio by microphone/speaker 132, for example, to detect/capture a user's voice. For example, the sensor controller 120 may receive detected voice information when the microphone/speaker 132 records or captures sound. In some aspects, voice activation may include a spoken word or a spoken command (e.g., "activate sensor" and/or "help"). In another example, activation of one or more selected sensors may be triggered by selection of one or more hardware buttons/keys 134. In some aspects, the sensor controller 120 may receive a selection of a concurrent or simultaneous selection of one or more hardware buttons/keys 134. For example, the sensor controller 120 may detect a parallel selection (or depression) of two or more of the buttons/keys 134 for a defined period of time, such as a parallel selection of the power key and volume key within two seconds. In some aspects, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to determine whether the concurrent activation/selection of two or more buttons meets (e.g., meets or exceeds) a defined time period, and if so, may trigger activation of one or more sensors associated with the type of input indicated by the concurrent selection of the two or more buttons.

In some aspects, the sensor controller 120 may receive a sequential or sequential selection of one or more hardware buttons/keys 134. Further, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to activate one or more selected sensors based on receiving the fingerprint scan/data. In particular, one or more selected sensors may be activated by the sensor controller 120 based on a particular user fingerprint scan acquired by the fingerprint sensor 138. In some aspects, different fingerprints of the same user may be associated with different selected sensors. That is, for example, a first fingerprint scan (e.g., right index finger) of a first user may be associated with one or more first selected sensors, and a second fingerprint scan (e.g., right thumb) of the first user (or a second user, e.g., right index finger) may be associated with one or more second selected sensors.

For example, the UE 100 may present a set of sensor identifiers (e.g., sensor names) on the display 136 for selection by a user, where each sensor identifier is associated with a different one of the one or more sensors or an exclusive or. Accordingly, the sensor controller 120 may receive or detect, via the user interface 130, an input representing a selection of at least one sensor identifier from the set of sensor identifiers. Additionally, the input may also include a selection of the type of input. Upon receiving an indication of the input type and the at least one selected sensor identifier, the sensor controller 120 may associate or designate the sensor associated with the selected sensor identifier with the selected input type.

In one example, the sensor controller 120 may receive input representing a selection of a first identifier associated with the light sensor 140 and a second identifier associated with the proximity sensor 142, and a voice-initiated selection using the microphone/speaker 132 as the type of input. The sensor controller 120 may be configured to associate the light sensor 140 and the proximity sensor 142 with a voice-activated input type (and may also store the association in the memory 114). In another example, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to receive input representing a selection of a third identifier associated with the one or more cameras 144, a fourth identifier associated with the accelerometer 146, and a fifth identifier associated with the gyroscope 148. In addition or as part of the same input, the sensor controller 120 can receive a selection of a hardware button pattern (e.g., one or more buttons/keys 134) as the type of input. The sensor controller 120 may be configured to associate one or more cameras 144, accelerometers 146, and gyroscopes 148 with a hardware button pattern input type.

The sensor controller 120 can be configured to activate one or more sensors via the activation component 128 in response to detecting or otherwise determining the type of input. For example, the sensor controller 120 may receive and/or detect an input via the user interface 130 indicative of activation of a sensor. For example, the sensor controller 120 may receive and/or otherwise detect voice activation via the microphone/speaker 132, selection of one or more buttons/keys 134 (e.g., via a keypad), a touch pattern via the display 136, and/or fingerprint scanning via the fingerprint sensor 138.

Further, upon receiving an input indicative of activation of one or more sensors, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to determine which of the one or more sensors to activate based on the input. That is, the sensor controller 120 may determine the type of input based on the received input. For example, in some aspects, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to determine whether the input corresponds to a first input type or a second input type. In some aspects, the first input type and/or the second input type may correspond to voice activation via the microphone/speaker 132, selection of one or more buttons/keys 134, a touch pattern on the display 136, and/or detection and/or receipt of a fingerprint scan using the fingerprint sensor 138.

The sensor controller 120 can be configured to then activate, via the activation component 128, one or more selected sensors associated with a particular input type. For example, in accordance with a determination that the input corresponds to a first input type (e.g., voice activation), the sensor controller 120 may be configured to activate a first set of one or more sensors (e.g., the light sensor 140, the proximity sensor 142, and/or the one or more cameras 144). Further, for example, in accordance with a determination that the input corresponds to a second input type (e.g., fingerprint scan), the sensor controller 120 may be configured to activate a second set of one or more sensors (e.g., one or more cameras 144 and/or accelerometers 146) that may be different from the first set of one or more sensors. In some aspects, as part of activating one or more sensors associated with an input type, the sensor controller 120 may enable one or more circuits of a set of circuits to be used to collect data from each of the one or more activated sensors.

In response to activation of one or more selected sensors, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to receive sensor data from each of the one or more sensors. For example, the sensor controller 120 may receive data from one or more activated sensors and transmit the sensor data 150 to the memory 114. The sensor data 150 may include data from each of the one or more selected sensors that are activated. In some aspects, each of the activated one or more selected sensors may provide corresponding sensor data to the sensor controller 120 at sensor-specific intervals. For example, the sensor controller 120 may receive data from a first sensor, such as the light sensor 140, according to a first time interval/data rate, and may receive data from a second sensor, such as the gyroscope 148, at a second time interval/data rate.

In some aspects, the sensor controller 120 may receive analog sensor data and convert the analog sensor data to digital data. For example, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to receive analog sensor data from activated sensors. The sensor controller 120 may be configured to then convert the analog data received from the sensor to digital sensor data. Alternatively, sensor data from the activated sensor may be output as digital data. Further, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to transmit digital sensor data corresponding to each of the activated one or more selected sensors to the memory 114, wherein the transmission is performed periodically based on a defined time interval. In some aspects, the data for all sensors may be transmitted at the same or different periods or time intervals. In some aspects, the time interval or period for which data is transmitted for each sensor may depend on the particular sensor type.

When the sensor controller 120 receives sensor data 150 from the activated one or more selected sensors, the sensor controller 120 may be configured to determine, via the sensor adjustment determiner 122, whether the sensor adjustment condition 124 has been satisfied. That is, in some aspects, when the UE 100 receives the sensor data 150, the sensor controller 120 may adjust the acquisition of the sensor data 150 based on determining whether the sensor adjustment condition 124 has been satisfied. In some aspects, the sensor adjustment condition 124 represents or otherwise corresponds to an event that triggers an adjustment of at least one of the activated one or more selected sensors. Accordingly, the sensor controller 120 may adjust the acquisition characteristics of the activated one or more selected sensors via the sensor adjustment determiner 122 based on determining that the sensor adjustment condition 124 has been satisfied.

In some aspects, the sensor controller 120 may monitor the power source (e.g., remaining battery power level) of the UE 100 via the sensor adjustment determiner 122 as part of determining whether the sensor adjustment condition 124 has been met. For example, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to determine that a power source (e.g., battery power level) of the UE 100 meets (e.g., meets or falls below) a power source threshold (e.g., a remaining battery power level threshold). That is, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may monitor the power source of the UE 100 to ensure efficient power consumption in the event of a low power source (e.g., determined by a battery charge level meeting or falling below a battery charge level threshold).

In some aspects, to conserve power of the UE 100, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to adjust the output bit depth of the analog-to-digital converter based on determining that the power supply of the UE 100 meets (e.g., meets or falls below) a power supply threshold. In some aspects, the output bit depth may be the number of bits of information in each sample, which may directly correspond to the resolution of each sample. That is, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to adjust a resolution of at least one of the activated one or more selected sensors. Further, in some aspects, to maintain efficient power consumption at the UE 100, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to deactivate at least a subset of the activated one or more selected sensors based on determining that a power source of the UE meets (e.g., meets or falls below) a power source threshold. For example, the subset may represent or otherwise include at least one sensor that consumes the most power from the activated one or more selected sensors. In some aspects, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to adjust a clock frequency of at least one of the activated one or more selected sensors. For example, table (1) below summarizes exemplary clock rates for various sensors.

TABLE (1) exemplary clock rates for various sensors

Additionally, in some aspects, as the sensor controller 120 receives the sensor data 150 and sends the sensor data 150 to the memory 114, the memory 114 may reach a low memory state after a period of time. Thus, to efficiently utilize the limited storage space of the memory 114, as part of determining whether the sensor adjustment condition 124 has been met, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to determine that the storage capacity level of the memory 114 meets (e.g., meets or exceeds) the storage capacity threshold. That is, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may determine that the memory 114 is in a low memory state. In some aspects, the amount of storage used to capture sensor data may be user configurable, or may be pre-configured. In some aspects, the storage capacity threshold may be a percentage of the maximum amount of storage for data capture (e.g., 80%), or may be based on the remaining recording time for a given data capture rate (e.g., 5 minutes).

Accordingly, as part of adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the initiated one or more selected sensors, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to adjust at least one of the data recording or acquisition interval, the signal sampling rate, the image capture rate, and/or the data compression rate based on determining that the storage capacity level of the memory 114 meets (e.g., meets or exceeds) the storage capacity threshold. For example, the recording/acquisition interval may represent or otherwise correspond to a time period between sensor recordings/acquisitions stored in the memory 114. Thus, adjustment of the recording/acquisition interval of the sensor may result in an increase of the recording/acquisition interval to correspondingly decrease the frequency of sensor recording/acquisition at the memory 114.

Further, for example, the sampling rate may represent or otherwise be the number of audio samples carried per second. Thus, the signal sampling rate may be reduced to correspondingly reduce the number of audio samples per defined time period. Further, for example, the data compression rate may represent or otherwise be a ratio or ratio at which the data size may be reduced from an original size to a reduced size. In some aspects, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to store the sensor data 150 at an address location of existing data. That is, the sensor adjustment determiner 122 may effectively overwrite old sensor data with new sensor data (e.g., when the memory 114 allocated for data storage is full, the data record begins to overwrite the oldest data first, so that the memory 114 contains the most recent data captured).

In some aspects, UE 100 may wirelessly transmit (e.g., stream) the collected sensor data 150 to a remote device or entity for secure storage and/or for real-time consumption via sensor controller 120. For example, during the collection of sensor data 150, the UE 100 may efficiently stream the sensor data 150 to a remote device or entity via the sensor controller 120 via one or more wireless communication channels according to a Radio Access Technology (RAT) or multi-RAT scheme. In some aspects, the sensor controller 120 may enable concurrent local storage of the sensor data 150 and transmission of the sensor data 150 to a remote device or entity.

Additionally, during data acquisition and wireless transmission to a remote device or entity, deactivation or adjustment of one or more sensors may be based on one or more channel conditions of one or more wireless communication channels transmitting sensor data 150. In particular, sensor controller 120 may monitor one or more wireless communication channels (e.g., high speed uplink/downlink channels) between UE 100 and a base station (e.g., an enodeb) on which UE 100 resides via sensor adjustment determiner 122 to determine whether one or more channel conditions meet (e.g., meet or fall below) a channel communication threshold.

For example, in one aspect, the sensor controller 120 can detect or otherwise determine that the channel condition of at least one wireless communication channel over which the sensor data 150 is transmitted has deteriorated to or below a channel communication threshold. As a result, such degradation of channel conditions may result in the transmission of a portion of the sensor data 150 (e.g., indicating a lost packet). Accordingly, the sensor controller 120 can adjust one or more communication/transmission characteristics via the adjustment component 126 to ensure that the sensor data 150 is transmitted according to a sufficient level of communication quality.

For example, in some aspects, the sensor controller 120 can determine, via the adjustment component 126, whether one or more additional communication channels are available and transmit the sensor data 150 based on determining that such additional channels are available and that one or more channel conditions satisfy respective channel communication thresholds. In some aspects, the sensor controller 120 can adjust (e.g., reduce) a communication rate (e.g., a modulation rate) and/or initiate reselection to another base station or cell via the adjustment component 126 based on determining that such additional channels are available and that one or more channel conditions satisfy respective channel communication thresholds. In some aspects, sensor controller 120 can adjust (e.g., reduce) the acquisition and/or sampling rate of sensor data via adjustment component 126 in response to changing (e.g., deteriorating) channel conditions.

In some aspects, the channel conditions may include, but are not limited to, a number of NACKs (e.g., indicating a large number of lost packets detected at a receiving device or entity), a signal-to-noise ratio, a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), and/or a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI). For example, with respect to detection of a number of NACKs, the UE 100, and in particular the sensor controller 120, may determine that the number of NACKs received in response to transmission of the sensor data 150 over the one or more wireless communication channels meets or exceeds a NACK threshold indicative of poor channel conditions, thereby triggering the adjustment component 126 to adjust the transmission characteristics based on the determination. In some aspects, sensor adjustment condition 124 may include or otherwise be referred to as a streaming adjustment condition.

Further, in some aspects, one or more selected sensors may be adjusted in response to receiving input via the user interface 130. For example, as part of determining whether sensor adjustment condition 124 has been satisfied, sensor adjustment determiner 122 may be configured to receive an input indicative of deactivation of one or more selected sensors. For example, the input (e.g., the first input type) may be the same input (e.g., the first input type) detected as part of activating one or more selected sensors. In some aspects, the input (e.g., the second input type) may be different from the input (e.g., the first input type) detected as part of activating the one or more selected sensors.

As used herein, the UE 100 may be any portable or mobile device that may be configured to acquire and transmit wireless signals to and from one or more wireless communication devices or networks. As shown in fig. 1, UE 100 may represent such a portable wireless device. Thus, by way of example and not limitation, the UE 100 may comprise a radio, a cellular telephone device, a computing device, a Personal Communication System (PCS) device or other similar mobile wireless communications equipped device, apparatus or machine. The term "user equipment" is intended to include all devices, including wireless devices, computers, laptops, etc., which are capable of communication with a server, e.g., via the internet, Wi-Fi, or other network. The term "user equipment" is also intended to include devices that communicate with the personal navigation device, for example, by short-range wireless, infrared, wireline connection, or other connection. Any operable combination of the above is also considered a "user equipment". Further, as used herein, the terms "wireless device," "mobile station," "mobile device," "user equipment," and the like may refer to any type of wireless communication device that can communicate information over a network. The wireless device may be any cellular mobile terminal, personal communication system device, personal navigation device, laptop, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet, or any other suitable device capable of receiving and processing network signals.

Fig. 2 illustrates a conceptual diagram illustrating an exemplary circuit/assembly arrangement 200 for collecting sensor data. The circuit/component arrangement 200 includes a sensor controller 120, a filter 208, a gain amplifier 210, an analog-to-digital converter 206, one or more bias circuits 204, a memory 114, and a clock generator 202. The sensor controller 120 can include one or more control outputs ("Cnt") for communicating control signals to one or more components₁To Cnt_N"). For example, the respective control outputs may be coupled to the filter 208, the gain amplifier 210, the analog-to-digital converter 206, the clock generator 202, and/or the one or more bias circuits 204. In some aspects, one or more bias circuits 204 may be associated with one or more sensors of fig. 1. That is, the one or more bias circuits 204 may activate one or more selected sensors to capture data upon receiving instructions from the sensor controller 120. Captured data from one or more sensors may be provided to filter 208 and gain amplifier 210 to perform analog signal conditioning to improve signal quality. The captured data may then be provided to an analog-to-digital converter 206 to convert the analog captured data to digital data. The converted digital data may then be sent to the memory 114 for storage. In some aspects, analog data may also be stored. At the same time, the clock generator 202 may provide a clock signal to the analog-to-digital converter 206 and the memory 114 under the direction of the sensor controller 120. Further, in some aspects, the clock generator 202, the moduleThe digital converter 206, filter 208, and/or gain amplifier 210 may be on the same integrated die of a particular sensor (e.g., as listed in table 1 above), or each component may be integrated on the same integrated die of the sensor controller 120, such that the bus may be an analog or digital bus depending on where the component is located.

Referring to fig. 3-5, examples of one or more operations of aspects of sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) in accordance with the present apparatus and methods are described with respect to one or more methods and one or more components for managing activation and deactivation of one or more sensors and/or data capture components. While the operations described below are presented in a particular order and/or presented as being performed by exemplary components, the order of the actions and the components performing the actions may be varied, depending on the implementation. Further, while sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) is shown with multiple subcomponents, it should be understood that one or more of the illustrated subcomponents may be separate from sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) and/or each other but in communication with sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) and/or each other. Further, it should be understood that the following acts or components described with respect to sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) and/or subcomponents thereof may be performed by a specially programmed processor, a processor executing specially programmed software or computer readable media, or any other combination of hardware components and/or software components specially configured to perform the acts or components.

In one aspect, at 302, the method 300 may present, on a display of the UE, a set of sensor identifiers each associated with a different sensor of the one or more sensors for selection by a user. In one aspect, for example, UE 100 (fig. 1) may execute user interface 130 (fig. 1) to present a set of sensor identifiers on a display 136 (fig. 1) of the UE, each sensor identifier associated with a different sensor of the one or more sensors selectable by the user.

At block 304, the method 300 may receive input representing selection of one or more sensor identifiers from a set of sensor identifiers, the one or more sensors corresponding to the one or more selected sensors. In one aspect, for example, sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) may receive input from user interface 130 (fig. 1) indicating selection of one or more sensor identifiers from a set of sensor identifiers, the one or more sensors corresponding to the one or more selected sensors.

At block 306, the method 300 may associate the selection of one or more sensor identifiers with the input type. In one aspect, for example, UE 100 (fig. 1) may execute sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) to associate the selection of one or more sensor identifiers with an input type.

Method 300 may proceed to block 404 of method 400 in fig. 4.

At block 404, the method 400 may receive an input indicative of activation of one or more sensors. In one aspect, for example, sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) may receive input from user interface 130 (fig. 1) indicative of activation of one or more sensors. In some aspects, the input corresponds to an input type that determines which sensor(s) to activate.

Further, at block 406, the method 400 may determine whether the input corresponds to a first input type or a second input type. In one aspect, for example, the UE 100 (fig. 1) may execute the sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) to determine whether the input received at block 404 corresponds to the first input type or the second input type.

The method 400 may proceed to block 408 based on a determination that the input received at block 404 corresponds to the first input type. Specifically, at block 408, the method 400 may initiate a first set of one or more sensors. In an aspect, for example, UE 100 (fig. 1) may execute sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) to activate a first set of one or more sensors.

Otherwise, the method 400 may proceed to block 410 based on a determination that the input received at block 404 corresponds to the second input type. Specifically, at block 410, the method 400 may initiate a second set of one or more sensors, which may be different from the first set. In an aspect, for example, UE 100 (fig. 1) may execute sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) to activate a second set of one or more sensors that may be different from the first set. In some aspects, activating the second set of one or more sensors includes determining at least one hardware circuit associated with each of the second set of one or more sensors and activating at least one hardware circuit associated with each of the second set of one or more sensors.

The method 400 may proceed to block 504 of the method 500 of fig. 5.

At block 504, the method 500 may receive sensor data from each of the one or more sensors. In one aspect, for example, the UE 100 (fig. 1) may execute the sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) to receive sensor data 150 (fig. 1) from each of a first number of the one or more sensors or one of a second number of the one or more sensors in response to receiving the respective input type.

At block 506, the method 500 may transmit the sensor data to a remote entity. For example, the sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) may execute one or more of the WWAN component 104 (fig. 1), the bluetooth component 106 (fig. 1), the GPS component 108 (fig. 1), and/or the WLAN component 110 (fig. 1) to communicate the sensor data 150 (fig. 1) (e.g., over one or more communication channels) to a remote entity (e.g., a remote server device and/or another UE).

Further, at block 508, the method 500 may determine whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met. In one aspect, for example, the sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) may execute the sensor adjustment determiner 122 (fig. 1) to determine whether the sensor adjustment condition 124 (fig. 1) has been satisfied. For example, the determination at block 508 may be made while receiving sensor data from each of the one or more sensors and/or while transmitting the sensor data to a remote entity.

In some aspects, determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met includes determining that a power supply of the UE meets (e.g., meets or falls below) a power supply threshold. In some aspects, determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met includes determining that a storage capacity level of the storage device meets (e.g., meets or falls below) a storage capacity threshold. In some aspects, determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met includes receiving an input (e.g., from user interface 130 of fig. 1) indicative of deactivation of one or more activated sensors. Further, in some aspects, determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met includes determining that at least one channel condition of a channel transmitting the sensor data meets a channel condition threshold.

Method 500 may proceed to block 510 based on determining that a sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied. In one aspect, for example, the sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) can execute the adjustment component 126 (fig. 1) to adjust acquisition characteristics of one or more activated sensors. In some aspects, adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors includes adjusting an output bit depth of the analog-to-digital converter based on determining that a power supply of the UE meets (e.g., meets or falls below) a power supply threshold. In some aspects, adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors includes deactivating at least a subset of the one or more sensors based on determining that a power source of the UE meets (e.g., meets or falls below) a power source threshold.

In some aspects, adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors includes adjusting at least one of a recording/acquisition interval (in the memory 114 of fig. 1), a signal sampling rate (e.g., of the microphone/speaker 132 of fig. 1), a data compression rate (e.g., of the camera 144 of fig. 1), and/or an image capture rate (e.g., of the camera 144 of fig. 1) based on determining that a storage capacity level of the storage device meets (e.g., meets or falls below) a storage capacity threshold. In some aspects, adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors includes deactivating at least a subset of the one or more sensors in response to receiving the input at block 504. In some aspects, the storage capacity threshold may indicate a size of an amount of storage capacity remaining such that all sensor data rates may be reduced by a factor or preconfigured amount to allow additional data from one or more activated sensors to be collected and stored. Further, in some aspects, adjusting acquisition characteristics of one or more sensors includes adjusting transmission characteristics of sensor data based on determining that at least one channel condition satisfies a channel condition threshold.

Otherwise, the method 500 may proceed to block 512 based on determining that the sensor adjustment condition is not satisfied. In particular, at block 512, the method 500 may maintain acquisition characteristics of one or more sensors. In an aspect, for example, the sensor controller 120 (fig. 1) may forego implementing the adjustment component 126 (fig. 1) to maintain acquisition characteristics of one or more sensors. In some aspects, method 500 may proceed to or otherwise return to block 506 from blocks 508 and/or 510 on a periodic or user triggered basis (e.g., receiving input from user interface 130 of fig. 1).

Fig. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of an apparatus 602' employing a processing system 514 including the sensor controller 120 (fig. 1). The processing system 614 may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus 624. The bus 624 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system 614 and the overall design constraints. The bus 624 links together various circuits including one or more processors and/or hardware components, represented by the processor 604, the

components

604, 608, 612, and 120, and the computer-readable medium/memory 606. The bus 624 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system 614 may be coupled to the transceiver 610. The transceiver 610 is coupled to one or more antennas 620. The transceiver 610 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The transceiver 610 receives signals from the one or more antennas 620, extracts information from the received signals, and provides the extracted information to the processing system 614, and in particular the receiving component 608. Further, the transceiver 610 receives information from the processing system 614, and in particular the transmitting component 612, and based on the received information, generates a signal to be applied to the one or more antennas 620. The processing system 614 includes a processor 604 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 606. The processor 604 is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium/memory 606. The software, when executed by the processor 604, causes the processing system 614 to perform the various functions described supra for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium/memory 606 may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor 604 when executing software. The components may be software components running in the processor 604, resident/stored in the computer readable medium/memory 606, one or more hardware components coupled to the processor 604, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the device 602/602' includes means for receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors. The apparatus 602/602' also includes means for activating, by a controller at the UE, one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input. The apparatus 602/602' also includes means for receiving sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors. The device 602/602' also includes means for determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met. The apparatus 602/602' also includes means for adjusting acquisition characteristics of one or more sensors based on determining that a sensor adjustment condition has been met. The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components of apparatus 602 and/or processing system 614 of apparatus 602' configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes/flow diagrams disclosed is an illustration of exemplary aspects. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes/flow diagrams can be rearranged. Furthermore, some blocks may be combined or omitted. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various blocks in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" (unless specifically so stated), but rather "one or more". The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. The term "some" means one or more unless specifically stated otherwise. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B or C", "one or more of A, B or C", "at least one of A, B and C", "one or more of A, B and C", and "A, B, C or any combination thereof" include any combination of A, B and/or C, and may include a plurality of a, B, or C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B or C", "one or more of A, B or C", "at least one of A, B and C", "one or more of A, B and C", and "A, B, C or any combination thereof" may be a only, B only, C only, a and B, A and C, B and C, or a and B and C, wherein any such combination may comprise one or more members of A, B or C. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. The words "module," mechanism, "" element, "" device, "etc. may not be able to replace the word" units. Thus, no claim element should be construed as a means plus function (means plus function) unless such element is explicitly stated by the phrase "means for … …".

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Furthermore, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or operations of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although certain aspects may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. A method of collecting sensor data at a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors;

activating, by a controller at the UE, the one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input;

receiving the sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors;

determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met, wherein determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met comprises determining that a storage capacity level of a storage device meets a storage capacity threshold; and

adjusting acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors based on determining that the sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met further comprises determining that a power supply of the UE meets a power supply threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors comprises adjusting an output depth at an analog-to-digital converter based on determining that a power supply of the UE satisfies the power supply threshold.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors comprises disabling at least a subset of the one or more sensors based on determining that a power source of the UE satisfies the power source threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors comprises adjusting at least one of a recording interval of at least one of the one or more sensors, a sampling rate of at least one of the one or more sensors, or a compression rate of sensor data from at least one of the one or more sensors based on determining that the storage capacity level of the storage device satisfies the storage capacity threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met further comprises receiving a second input indicative of deactivation of the one or more sensors.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors comprises deactivating at least a subset of the one or more sensors in response to receiving the second input.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the sensor data to a remote entity in response to receiving the sensor data from each of the one or more sensors.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met comprises determining that at least one channel condition of a channel transmitting the sensor data meets a channel condition threshold.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein adjusting the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors comprises adjusting at least an acquisition rate of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors or a sampling rate of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting a set of sensor identifiers on a display of the UE for selection by a user, wherein each of the sensor identifiers is associated with a different sensor of the one or more sensors; and

receiving a third input representing a selection of one or more sensor identifiers from the set of sensor identifiers, wherein the one or more sensors correspond to one or more selected sensors.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the first input corresponds to a first input type or a second input type, wherein activating the one or more sensors comprises activating a first number of the one or more sensors based on determining that the first input corresponds to the first input type or activating a second number of the one or more sensors different from the first number based on determining that the first input corresponds to the second input type.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving sensor data from each of the one or more sensors comprises:

receiving analog sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors;

converting, at the controller, the analog data received from each of the one or more sensors to digital sensor data; and

transmitting, from the controller to a storage device at the UE, the digital sensor data corresponding to each of the one or more sensors, wherein the transmitting occurs periodically based on a defined time interval.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein activating the one or more sensors comprises enabling a minimum subset of one or more circuits of a set of circuits for collecting data corresponding to each of the one or more sensors.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first input comprises detecting concurrent triggering of two or more buttons of the UE for a defined period of time.

16. An apparatus for collecting sensor data, comprising:

means for receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors;

means for activating, by a controller at a User Equipment (UE), the one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input;

means for receiving the sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activating the one or more sensors;

means for determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met, wherein the means for determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met is configured to determine that a storage capacity level of a storage device meets a storage capacity threshold; and

means for adjusting acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors based on determining that the sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met is further configured to determine whether a power supply of the UE meets a power supply threshold.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors is configured to adjust an output depth at an analog-to-digital converter based on determining that a power supply of the UE satisfies the power supply threshold.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors is configured to disable at least a subset of the one or more sensors based on determining that a power source of the UE satisfies the power source threshold.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors is configured to adjust at least one of a recording interval of at least one of the one or more sensors, a sampling rate of at least one of the one or more sensors, or a compression rate of sensor data of at least one of the one or more sensors based on determining that the storage capacity level of the storage device satisfies the storage capacity threshold.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means for determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met is further configured to receive a second input indicative of deactivation of the one or more sensors.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the means for adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors is configured to deactivate at least a subset of the one or more sensors in response to receiving the second input.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising means for transmitting the sensor data to a remote entity in response to receiving the sensor data from each of the one or more sensors.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for determining whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met is configured to determine that at least one channel condition of a channel transmitting the sensor data meets a channel condition threshold.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for adjusting the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors is configured to at least adjust an acquisition rate of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors or a sampling rate of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors.

26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the code comprising code to:

receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors;

activating, by a controller at a User Equipment (UE), the one or more sensors in response to receipt of the first input;

receiving sensor data from each of the one or more sensors in response to activation of the one or more sensors;

determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met, wherein the determination of whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met comprises determining that a storage capacity level of a storage device meets a storage capacity threshold; and

adjusting acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors based on the determination that the sensor adjustment condition has been satisfied.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the determination of whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met further comprises determining that a power supply of the UE meets a power supply threshold.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the adjustment of the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors comprises adjusting an output depth at an analog-to-digital converter based on a determination that a power supply of the UE satisfies the power supply threshold.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the adjustment of the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors comprises disabling at least a subset of the one or more sensors based on a determination that a power source of the UE satisfies the power source threshold.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the adjustment of the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors comprises adjusting at least one of a recording interval, a sampling rate, or a compression rate based on a determination that the storage capacity level of the storage device satisfies the storage capacity threshold.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the determination of whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met further comprises receiving a second input representing deactivation of the one or more sensors.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, further comprising code for transmitting the sensor data to a remote entity in response to receipt of the sensor data from each of the one or more sensors.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the determination of whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met comprises determining that at least one channel condition of a channel transmitting the sensor data meets a channel condition threshold.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the adjustment of the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors comprises adjusting at least an acquisition rate of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors or a sampling rate of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors.

35. An apparatus for collecting sensor data, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

receiving a first input representing a request to activate one or more sensors;

activating, by a controller at a User Equipment (UE), the one or more sensors in response to receiving the first input;

determining whether a sensor adjustment condition has been met, wherein to determine whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met, the at least one processor is further configured to determine that a storage capacity level of a storage device meets a storage capacity threshold; and

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein to determine whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met, the at least one processor is further configured to determine that a power supply of the UE meets a power supply threshold.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein to adjust the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors, the at least one processor is further configured to adjust an output depth at an analog-to-digital converter based on determining that a power supply of the UE satisfies the power supply threshold.

38. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein to adjust the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors, the at least one processor is further configured to disable at least a subset of the one or more sensors based on determining that a power supply of the UE satisfies the power supply threshold.

39. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein to adjust the acquisition characteristics of the one or more sensors, the at least one processor is further configured to adjust at least one of a recording interval, a sampling rate, or a compression rate based on determining that the storage capacity level of the storage device satisfies the storage capacity threshold.

40. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein to determine whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met, the at least one processor is further configured to receive a second input representing deactivation of the one or more sensors.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein to adjust the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors, the at least one processor is further configured to deactivate at least a subset of the one or more sensors in response to receiving the second input.

42. The apparatus of claim 35, the at least one processor further configured to transmit the sensor data to a remote entity in response to receiving the sensor data from each of the one or more sensors.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein to determine whether the sensor adjustment condition has been met, the at least one processor is further configured to determine that at least one channel condition of a channel transmitting the sensor data meets a channel condition threshold.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein to adjust the acquisition characteristic of the one or more sensors, the at least one processor is further configured to at least adjust an acquisition rate of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors or a sampling rate of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors.

45. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

46. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine whether the first input corresponds to a first input type or a second input type, wherein to activate the one or more sensors, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to activate a first number of the one or more sensors based on determining that the first input corresponds to the first input type or a second number of the one or more sensors different from the first number based on determining that the first input corresponds to the second input type.

47. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein to receive sensor data from each of the one or more sensors, the at least one processor is further configured to:

48. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein to activate the one or more sensors, the at least one processor is further configured to enable a minimum subset of one or more circuits of a set of circuits for acquiring data corresponding to each of the one or more sensors.

49. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein to receive the first input, the at least one processor is further configured to detect concurrent triggering of two or more buttons of the UE within a defined time period.